Lindsey D.'s ramblings on the moving image!

A Liebster Award for TMP!

TMP has been nominated for a Liebster Award by Virginie at The Wonderful World of Cinema, a fellow classic movie buff and fantastic film blogger! Thank you, Virginie!

The rules for this award are as follows:

Answer the 11 questions given by the person who nominated you.

State 11 facts about yourself.

Nominate 11 blogs for the award, and come up with 11 new questions for them to answer!

I’ll begin by answering Virginie’s questions:

1. If you had the chance to play any movie character, which one would you have choose?
I’ve never had the desire to act, but if I were to take on any character (and had the talent to do so successfully), it would have to be Ellen from Leave Her to Heaven. I recently read the book version of this story (as discussed here) and have loved the film for many years. Gene Tierney was perfectly cast in the film, but I’m a total sucker for psychologically “meaty” and somewhat-unlikable characters, so I’d definitely like to take a stab at portraying Ellen if given the opportunity. (And that wardrobe! I’d steal it all and bring it home with me.)

2. Which movie made you discover the world of classic films?
I can’t credit a single movie with my adoration of classic film, but there are four that were played on heavy rotation on VHS when I was a child that definitely shaped my taste in films: The Wizard of Oz, Gone with the Wind, The Sound of Music and It’s a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World.

3. What are your three most favorite decades in films?
This is a tough question because I have many favorites from every decade, but if I had to choose… the 1920s, 1930s, and 1980s? Maybe?

4. With whom do you watch your films?
It really depends on the film. Classics, I typically watch alone. Theatrical releases, I typically watch with my dad. (We go to the local multiplex together about once a week.) Old favorites from the ’80s, ’90s, and early ’00s are watched with my sister. Cheesy-but-amazing films, like all of Olivia Newton John’s hits, are watched with my mom. If I’m with friends, we’re usually out at a concert or restaurant, so I don’t do a lot of movie-watching with anyone but my immediate family, which I never realized until answering this question!

5. What movie star do enjoy the most listening to their interviews and why?
Bette Davis! Whitney Stine’s book about his conversations with her (“I’d Love to Kiss You”) has been one of my favorite reads of the year so far, and I love watching old Bette interviews on YouTube. She was always so frank, and such an entertaining speaker.

6. What do you think was the best screenplay ever written and why?
I’ll preface this by saying I don’t think I’m at all qualified to name the “best screenplay ever.” I’ve never written a screenplay or studied screenplay writing. I’ve taken a few film classes, but as I always say on this blog, I’m simply an enthusiastic fan, not an expert on all aspects of film. That being said, I adore Nunnally Johnson’s adaptation of The Grapes of Wrath.

7. You have the chance to visit one movie set during an entire day and discover its secrets. Which set do you choose?Charade! Less to discover the “secrets” of the film and more to spend time with Cary Grant and Audrey Hepburn, haha.

8. You try to convince someone to watch classic films. What is your major argument to convince him or her?
My version of “convincing” usually includes subjecting the person to a few of my favorite films, including a pre-code and at least one screwball comedy. Pre-codes break the stereotype of old films being “prudish” and boring; screwball comedies are great fun and pretty universally lovable. It’s difficult to put into words just what makes classic film so great. The best way to learn that they’re great is to give them a try!

9. Is there a movie everybody has seen you are ashamed to admit you never saw it?
I feel like I’ve seen most of the highly-regarded Hollywood classics. My biggest “blindspots” are classics from world cinema. L’Age d’Or, for example, has been sitting in my Netflix queue for ages, and I’ve seen painfully few of Akira Kurosawa’s films.

10. Do you own some movie posters? If yes, which ones?
No originals, but I have a few re-prints: The Wizard of Oz, The Rocky Horror Picture Show, Top Gun, Breakfast at Tiffany’s, A Hard Day’s Night. I also have two Wizard of Oz photos hanging (one still and one promotional shot), and a copied Detroit newspaper advertisement for He Who Gets Slapped, which was available for free when I saw the film on the big screen!

11. You are invited to a costume ball and you have to dress up as a movie character or a movie star. Which one do you choose?
Sylvia from The Women (portrayed by Roz Russell). Her outfits have such wacky details to them — eyes on the bodice, elaborate hats. I could never pull off her style (or any modern equivalent of it) in the real world, so it’d be fun to bring out the crazy details for a costume party! For a fancier costume ball, I’d choose Rose DeWitt-Bukater from Titanic — a newer film, but her outfits are stunning.

With the questions out of the way, here are 11 facts about me:

1. I fall into “viewing slumps” more often than I fall into reading slumps. I’ll want to watch a film, and will have the time to watch a film, but simply won’t be able to bring myself to choose one! Luckily, these slumps usually only last a few days to a week.

2. Though I have a nice TV and DVD/Blu player at my disposal, I end up doing most of my movie-watching on my laptop.

3. In relation to the second fact… I’ve got my laptop in split-screen mode and am watching a film as I type this! (The Devil’s Hand, 1961)

4. In relation to the third fact… you’re probably thinking, “How can you pay attention to the movie while writing?” Not to toot my own horn, but when it comes to viewing films or TV, I’m a damn good multi-tasker. I can carry on an entire conversation with someone while watching a TV show and then recite everything that happened in the episode. (My sister laughs about this — if we start talking, she has to go back and re-watch what we “missed.”)

5. I once stole a pair of bowling shoes from a bowling alley, but I felt so guilty that I returned them the next morning. Clearly, I was not meant to be a criminal.

6. If I lived in a state with warmer winters, I would never wear pants. I don’t understand people who like to wear pants. Skirts and dresses are so much more comfortable!

7. I eat green beans almost every day. I’ve always loved them. Sometimes I top them with simple salt and pepper, but usually with Frank’s Red Hot.

8. I’ve recently jumped on the Orange is the New Black bandwagon. It really does live up to the hype! I love the use of flashbacks — learning the backstory of each character, and how they ended up in prison.

9. I own hundreds of books and am surprised that my floor doesn’t collapse from the weight of the bookshelves.

10. I’m addicted to sweet tea.

11. My great-grandma designed her own jewelry — not to sell, just for herself. I have two pairs of her earrings and wear one of them daily!

And here are the 11 bloggers I nominate! It’s always difficult to narrow the list of wonderful bloggers down, so this time, all I did was go into my blogroll and pick the first 11 people who’d written posts about classic film. I only subscribe to blogs that I love, so though the selection was somewhat random, these are all amazing bloggers well-deserving of nomination!

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9 thoughts on “A Liebster Award for TMP!”

Congrats on the award. Great answers and facts too. Great to find out more about you. 2 questions for you. Would you ever go and see a film by yourself? Is there one super classic you don’t like that everyone else seems to?

To your first question – yes! If there’s something I want to see that no one else is interested in, or if I have a free day and feel like going to a matinee, I have no problem with going alone. I’ve done it before, I’ll do it again haha. As for your second question, none come to mind offhand. I don’t adore ‘Sunset Boulevard’ as much as most classic fans seem to, but I still think it’s a great film.

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